1. Field
Electrically conductive thin films and an electronic device including the same are disclosed.
2. Description of the Related Art
An electronic device like a flat panel display such as an LCD or LED, a touch screen panel, a solar cell, a transparent transistor, and the like includes an electrically conductive thin film or a transparent electrically conductive thin film. A material for an electrically conductive thin film may be required to have, for example, high light transmittance of greater than or equal to about 80% and low specific resistance of less than or equal to about 100 μΩ*cm in a visible light region. The currently-used material for an electrically conductive thin film includes oxides such as indium tin oxide (ITO), tin oxide (SnO2), zinc oxide (ZnO), and the like.
The indium tin oxide is a type of degenerate semiconductor and has a wide band gap of 3.75 eV. The ITO may be prepared as a large area film via sputtering process but has poor flexibility and will inevitably cost more due to limited reserves of indium. Therefore, development of an alternative material is desired. The tin oxide and the zinc oxide show low conductivity and have poor flexibility.
Developing a non-oxide material for a flexible and stable transparent electrode having high transparency and excellent electrical conductivity is desired for a flexible electronic device (such as a bendable or foldable electronic device), which has drawn growing attention as a next generation electronic device.